


laundry day at ember island (and the blue sweatshirt of girlfriends past)

by snowandfire



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Movie Night, POV Sokka (Avatar), Roommates, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandfire/pseuds/snowandfire
Summary: Usually he barely notices it anymore. That undercurrent of sweet lord I wanna do you. There’s just something about Zuko today. He can’t put his finger on it.Or: Sokka and Zuko accidentally go on a date to the movies
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 60
Kudos: 1706





	laundry day at ember island (and the blue sweatshirt of girlfriends past)

Looking back, it’s not  _ really  _ a coincidence that it happens on a laundry day. Sure, in theory those are the days when Zuko brings out what he thinks are the clothes he looks terrible in. But to Sokka, Zuko's laundry day clothes are in fact, without a fucking doubt, his  _ best  _ clothes. The ones that make him elicit the kind of feelings that Sokka associates with maple syrup and sunday mornings. There's something about it that's just so easy. 

Out go starchy white collared shirts and crisply ironed pants. In come faded t-shirts that haven’t even fit properly since freshman year of college. Which is a god damn blessing, since why have washboard abs and not show them off? Then there are those soft grey sweatpants, with a hole in them, somewhere--it’s not like Sokka knows where and has stared at it. It’s the softest Zuko  _ ever  _ looks. And it happens on just that one precious day every two weeks. Sokka may or may not look forward to it. Actively. 

Add that it’s eighty degrees outside. The laundromat has no air conditioning. Sokka gets all hot and bothered in more than one way. It’s the light sheen of sweat on Zuko’s face. The way his collarbones are peaking through the shirt’s collar. The downright stupidly sultry way Zuko brushes the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. It should be illegal to make being hot look this  _ hot _ . The tiny fan in the corner of the room does nothing to cool them off but does blow around Zuko’s dark, shaggy bangs. In a way that's actually kinda sorta really, really sexy. Because of course that’s all it’s good for. It’s fucking unfair is what it is.

Sure, he accepted it ages ago that they’ll never be more than friends. Yada yada yada. They’ve been roommates for five, going on six, relatively chill years. Ever since college. When Sokka basically kidnapped him into his friend group. But Zuko never made a move or responded to Sokka’s initial attempts at flirting with him. So that was that. Sadly. Usually he barely notices it anymore. That undercurrent of  _ sweet lord I wanna do you _ . There’s just something about Zuko today. He can’t put his finger on it. 

Sokka’s selecting the cycle on his machine, and digging out change from his pocket, when his phone vibrates in the pocket of his shorts. He reaches in to check it. It's his date for the night.

_ [Can’t make it. Sorry for cancelling so last minute!] _

...Seriously?! That  _ is  _ SUPER last minute. Freaking rude, actually. Considering the movie is in two hours. He already has tickets. Which he's paid for. Not to mention, he’s been dying to see this! 

_ Ember Island.  _ Science fiction masterpiece of the century. With a dash of romance thrown in. Ya know. For the ladies. It's supposed to be thrilling. 135 minutes of pure narrative bliss. Sokka can't miss it! He just can't. He's crazy interested in seeing it on screen. 

“Hey. I forgot my wallet at home. Do you have any quarters?” Zuko turns to him, completely oblivious to the utter tragedy that has just occurred. 

“Yeah. I’ve got quarters. I don’t have a date. But I have  _ plenty _ of quarters!” Sokka sighs, he tosses one at Zuko, who catches it with surprising dexterity. 

“She cancelled...Isn’t it in like two hours?” 

“Yup. And I was really looking forward to this! I already bought tickets.”

Zuko looks at the quarter, idly turning it over in his hand, then back to Sokka, “I’m, uh, free. If you really wanna see it.” 

“It’s  _ Ember Island _ . Not exactly your thing.” Sokka explains.

As far as he knows. Zuko likes the kind of movies that get nominated for Oscars. Those and spy thrillers. Things that have at least a 7.5 on IMDB. Things with either swords or politics. (He also has a thing for baby animal documentaries but Sokka knows better than to bring  _ that _ up again). Everything else: snoozefest. He’s a real culture snob. 

“Oh. I’ve heard about that. It got good reviews.”

Sokka hasn’t really heard that. But Zuko usually knows more about this sort of stuff than him. So it must be true. 

“Zuko! You’ve saved movie night!” Sokka moves forward to hug him, arms outstretched. Zuko gives him an awkward pat on the back, then steps back--they’re way too sweaty for this. 

“Yeah.” Zuko turns away, with a small smile, “Thanks for the quarter.” 

* * *

They take the bus to the theater. Sokka has a car, but it spends more time in the shop than on the road. Zuko used to have a car, a nice one too, but that was before the thing with his dad. He kinda torched it afterwards. Sokka remembers that day, vividly. It was a whole thing. So now they're just two guys with transit cards. Just one foot apart, because they’re comfortable in their own masculinity. Riding the bus. 

This is its own problem. Zuko has an inability to sit down on buses. He'll stand up for anyone. Which is just ridiculous. Sokka's reasonable. He'll give up a seat for kids, older people, pregnant people, even for people who just look like they're not having the best day. But Zuko will get up for  _ anyone _ . Sometimes, he'll even get up in anticipation of people. It's why Sokka never sits down on buses anymore when he's with him. Cause he knows it won't last. Instead they just stand up and hold on to the 'grippy' thingies. Even when it's a thirty minute ride.

But it has its perks. It's especially cool when they stop abruptly. And because of momentum and inertia and those kinds of things, Zuko's body goes momentarily careening into his. If the bus is crowded, he's sort of pressed up against him, just for a second. He’s a split second blur of black hair and pure terror.  _ Aaah, the joy of public transit.  _

Sadly, it doesn’t happen today. They’ve just repaved the roads around here. Filled in that big pothole that used to knock them off-kilter. Zuko’s acting all weird too, stealing glances at Sokka. Sokka wonders if maybe he has something stuck in his teeth, or if he’s wearing his shirt inside out. Or something far, far, worse:  _ does my hair look bad? _

“Hey, do I look weird right now or something?” Sokka asks. 

“No! I mean. Just as weird as you always do.” Zuko says, a bit defensively, and looks determinedly out the window, away from Sokka. He’s blushing. 

_ Okaaay.  _

"I wanna play the game." Sokka whispers to him. 

"No. We're not playing the game."

" _ Please.  _ Just. One person. I'll let you pick." 

Zuko sighs, "Okay. Back left. Lady with the pink purse."

"She's a party planner. That's why she has all the notepads and the...sparkles. Dog?"

Zuko nods, "Yeah. I can see that." 

"Poodle?"

Zuko shakes his head, "Nah, Labrador. Don't stereotype, Sokka." 

"This entire game is about stereotyping. Come on! Okay. She went to college in the Northeast."

"Magna cum laude, summa cum laude, or cum laude?"

"In English, please?"

Zuko rolls his eyes, "It's grade point average. Remember that? From that time we went to college."

"Oh. Pretty high. Pretty high. But not the highest." Sokka considers her, "She wanted to focus on her sweetheart."

"Makes sense. Balancing can be hard for some people." 

"You should know." 

Zuko stares at him indignantly, "I missed one test because of Jet.  _ One!  _ And I'll never hear the end of it."

"Mhmm, cause It was a  _ final _ ."

"Yeah. Sure. But I didn't  _ need  _ it to pass!"

"Hey. It was your only  _ C.  _ Just to get the  _ D _ ."

"I'll throw you out at the next stop, Sokka. I swear to god."

Sokka continues laughing at him anyway. 

* * *

When they get off at the theatre Sokka sees his sister in line for tickets. Which is weird. She said she was going to be studying all night. And she's NOT ALONE!

"Zuko. Katara's here with Aang.  _ Our  _ Aang. Our buddy. How could he not tell me?! I'm gonna kill him." Sokka rants. 

"Yeah. That's probably why he didn't tell you." Zuko says. 

"Who's side are you on?!"

"Katara's. You're being an idiot." 

"ME? She's dating my best friend behind my back and she didn't tell me. How am I the idiot?" Sokka paces on the side walk. 

"How do you know it's even a date?"

"It's  _ Ember Island _ . It's romantic science fiction. It's a couples movie. They're here alone. Come on! Of course it's a date!" 

Zuko makes a strange choked sound then has a coughing fit, right then and there. 

"Hey, whoa." Sokka claps him on the back, "You good?" 

"Uh. Fine. You were saying. About Katara."

"Eh. I'll confront her later. Let's get some snacks." 

Sokka's a big fan of movie theater snacks. Popcorn. Jelly beans. Swedish fish. Nachos with melted cheese dip. The whole deal. Zuko however doesn't seem to be a fan of any of it. He's all stiff looking and nervous.  _ Is this a dad thing? Maybe it's a dad thing.  _

"Wanna share a large popcorn with me?" Sokka asks, he reaches out to rub Zuko's back in a way that he hopes is comforting. 

"Okay. I'll pay. Since you paid for the tickets."

"Want anything to drink?" Zuko asks when he's at the counter. 

"Not thirsty." Sokka replies. 

_ Oh, the irony.  _

"One diet coke, please."

When the popcorn's ready he shoves it at Sokka and picks out a plastic straw for his drink. Stabbing it into the plastic cap a little too violently. He's nervous, Sokka can tell, that's always the reason whenever Zuko gets too forceful with things. But why? It's just them. And they've gone to plenty of movies together before, with Aang of course. So this isn't even the first time?

The movie is playing in Theater 7. And it's mostly empty. 

"Let's go to the back. We can have a whole row to ourselves." Sokka says excitedly. 

Zuko just nods and heads up there. They pick out two center seats. Zuko places his drink in the cupholder in between his and Sokka's seat. 

He's shivering. 

"Are you...cold?" Sokka asks. 

"You didn't even let us go back to the apartment and change! Of course I'm cold."

"Oh." Sokka shrugs off his own sweatshirt, and hands it to Zuko, who looks for all intents and purposes, like Sokka has handed him a still beating human heart. 

"What are you doing? Now you'll be cold." 

"I don't get cold." Sokka shrugs, "Take it or leave it."

Zuko takes it. He pulls Sokka's sweatshirt on over his own shirt. It's a bit big on him. Sokka remembers when he got this sweatshirt. It was the official one for their college volleyball team. Sokka had been captain. It's blue color has sort of faded now. But you can still make out the logo quite clearly. It's just weird seeing it on Zuko.  _ Oh. Oh shit.  _

This isn't just any sweatshirt. This is Sokka's  _ girlfriend _ sweatshirt. All the girls Sokka ever dated used to steal it from him. Sit in his bed wearing it, and only it. The morning after a really, really good night. What can he say? It was really soft and their volleyball team was  _ great _ . To Sokka, this is the sweatshirt of sex. And Zuko is wearing it. Zuko is just sitting there. And WEARING it. 

All Sokka can imagine now is Zuko. Smiling coyly. Wearing nothing but that sweatshirt in Sokka's bed.  _ Ohhhh. Nope. Nope. Not right now.  _

"Smells like you." Zuko remarks softly then pauses, making a show of sniffing the armpit, "You have a pretty strong scent."

"I'm gonna pretend you thanked me and say you're welcome." Sokka pushes the image of nearly naked Zuko from his mind, a little reluctantly, if for no other reason than to prevent an unfortunate situation in his pants. 

"What's it about?" Zuko asks, gesturing towards the screen, which is still playing trailers, "Ember Island."

"I thought you said you read reviews."

"They were spoiler free."

"It's about a couple who fall in love on a spaceship called  _ Ember Island _ . They're the only ones alive on the ship. After an accident that kills everyone else. It's basically about how they survive."

"Sounds okay."

"Better than okay! The book won a  _ Hugo _ award. It's got everything. Romance. Plot! A killer ending!"

"Let me watch it first and I'll decide if it's any good."

"Have it your way." Sokka offers him the popcorn, "Want some?"

"We can't have it during the trailers. There won't be any left for the actual movie." 

"Okay. Okay. We'll wait." 

Sokka finds it really hard to wait. Because once he's not focused on eating popcorn and glueing his eyes to the trailer playing on the screen. He's totally free to look at Zuko again. It's not even that bright in here. But Zuko looks good even in the faint glow of movie theater screen. _God._ He's wearing Sokka's sweatshirt. The blue sweatshirt of sex. Sokka only brings it out anymore when he has nothing else to wear. _This had to happen on laundry day. Of. Fucking. Course._

Finally. After several excruciating minutes. The movie starts. 

Sokka takes a bite of popcorn again, "You gotta have some." 

"Fine." Zuko whispers back, he reaches in gingerly and takes one piece of popcorn and eats it. 

Even after fifteen minutes of movie. He doesn't have any more. Oh whatever. Sokka can lead by example. He leans over and takes a sip of Zuko's drink. 

"I drank out of that." Zuko points out. 

"And? Have your lips been anywhere I should be worried about?" 

"No." Zuko says, his voice is weirdly hoarse. 

"Neither have mine. It's fine." Sokka takes another sip, "Now will you have some popcorn?"

Zuko reaches in and grabs a handful of popcorn this time. Now Sokka can finally focus on the movie. He's done his duty as a friend. But it seems he's just replaced one problem with another. 

Because now. There's touching. Sokka likes popcorn okay? But when they both reach for it, their warm hands brush against each other, and against the popcorn and it's all so stupid. Sokka's graduated college. He has a real job. He pays  _ taxes.  _ He's not gonna get all worked up by something as silly as this. These are teenage shenanigans.

His resolve crumbles though, when they both reach for a sip of the drink. They're faces are so close. Close enough to kiss. Sokka can see a look in Zuko's eyes. They're reflecting the light of the movie. The sounds and dialogue of which are so far in the back of Sokka's mind now. They almost don't exist. Zuko looks nervous, sure. But he also looks  _ enamored. _

Sokka's just floored. He pulls back, so that Zuko can take a sip first. Then he takes a sip himself. He thinks. He thinks about doing it. Going ahead and doing it. His heart's going so fast. He can barely breathe. The swell of the movie's action theme music doesn't help. 

Sokka makes sure to stare straight ahead at the screen. He makes sure Zuko is also looking at the screen. Then he takes his right hand and places it on Zuko's left leg. A few inches above his knee. 

He feels Zuko twitch. He worries for a second. Maybe he didn't see what he thought he saw. Maybe he's screwing this all up. 

But Zuko doesn't swat his hand away. Or say anything. He doesn't even turn and look. He's staring straight ahead, as he puts his own left hand down over Sokka's. 

_ Whoa. _

Sokka considers his situation as they enter the second half of the movie. He's Secretly thrilled about where his hand is right now. The feel of Zuko's hand on top of it. It's got to mean something. It just has to. 

He knows Zuko. He doesn't just do things for the sake of doing them. He's careful. Methodical. He's had to be that way. His dad is this awful bastard. Who's done nothing but hurt him. So he tiptoes around everything in life. Everything but Sokka. Still, if Zuko's done this. He means it. He just has to. 

The movie is wrapping up too fast. Sokka doesn't even care that they changed the perfectly good book ending. He just wished they could carry on like that forever. Him and Zuko practically holding hands. He needs his free hand to hold the popcorn bag. He was using the other one, the one that's now in Zuko's lap, to take some out and pop it in his mouth. But he just  _ can't  _ move his hand now. Not a single inch. 'Cause who knows if something like this'll ever happen again?

The buttery smell is getting to him though. He sorta wants to. It's hard. Lunch feels like so long ago. It's calling to him. Why is life so hard?

He decides to just ask Zuko, to make it less awkward. He'll just ask Zuko for his hand back for a sec. He'll take some popcorn. Then they'll get right back to where they were. Easy peasy. 

"Hey." Sokka cocks his head towards the popcorn, "Do you mind?"

Zuko's eyes widen and he takes a deep breath, "Okay."

He takes his own free hand, the one that's not holding Sokka's. Zuko takes some popcorn and moves it right to Sokka's mouth. 

_ Oh my god he thought I was asking him to feed me the popcorn. And he fucking did.  _

Sokka opens his mouth and takes what's offered. Thinking all the while. Now. Now Zuko has to mean it right? Or he wouldn't have done THAT.

They both let each other go right as the end credits roll. Not that Sokka was paying much attention anyway. He read the book, but if you asked him at gunpoint what happened in this movie. He probably still couldn't fucking tell you.  _ Oh boy.  _

"We should go." Zuko announces. 

"Mhmm." Sokka gets up to leave. Taking the still half full popcorn bag in one hand. Drink in the other. 

He throws it out as they leave. He can barely even look at Zuko.

_ Was this a date?  _ Could it have been a date? 

They did basically hold hands for an hour. That's kinda date-y. It's at least date-adjacent. Date-correlated. 

He doesn't get the chance to talk to Zuko about this though. Because that's when they see Aang. Yeah, after this whole date/not-a-date thing the whole issue with Aang dating Katara seems really, really small now. 

"Hey funny seeing you guys here." Aang quips, yanking Katara over with him, "What did you think of it?  _ Ember Island _ ?"

"It was nice." Zuko offers. 

"What was your favorite part?" Katara asks. 

"Uh." Zuko looks at Sokka desperately.  _ Shit. He wasn't actually watching either.  _

"He can't decide." Sokka explains, "It was all just soooo good."

"Yeah. I can see that." Aang nods, "Anyway. See you guys later. We have a dinner reservation." 

Katara looks back at Sokka apologetically before running after Aang. Who's already run off. Yeah. They're gonna talk about this later. Her and Aang. Whatever that is. 

Now it's just him and Zuko again.  _ Awkward.  _

"Told you they were on a date." Sokka says. 

"Yeah. They were." Zuko says it so bitterly. 

Now at least. He  _ must  _ mean it. 

Come on, Sokka. Be brave. 

"Yeah." Sokka takes a step closer, "If you want. So are we."

Zuko just considers him. Reaching up his hand to touch Sokka's face before pulling back abruptly. Like he's been burned. 

"I want that." Zuko admits quietly, he can't look into Sokka's eyes. 

"I want that too." Sokka turns his face up, then leans in to kiss him. 

This is it. The moment of dreams. The moment of all his fantasies. A decade of unresolved sexual tension finally on the cusp of release. But Zuko holds him back, his hands at Sokka's shoulders.  _ Shit.  _

"Are you crazy we're in a movie theater. We can't just kiss right out here in the open."

_???? _

"Why not?????"

"I've waited six years for this. It has to be done right." 

_ What.  _

"You can't talk to me like that when you're wearing the blue sweatshirt of sex!" 

"This is. Oh. This is  _ that.  _ This is--" Zuko sputters, red in the face again. 

"You're impossible." Sokka sighs, "Where will you let me kiss you?" 

Zuko blushes again, "On the mouth. At least. At first."

"I like where your head is it at, babe. But I need a location. Like something you could GPS."

"You can't call me, babe. We haven't even kissed."

"Fuck. I'm TRYING."

"Okay. Fine. We'll--don't be fucking rude" 

In the end Zuko takes him by the hand. Drags him to the back exit of the theater. 

He stops the second they're outside. 

"See." Zuko says, "We're alone."

_ And also near the trash and recycling receptacles for the entire theater. How...romantic. _

"This is the place? I thought you wanted it to be done right or something. There's literally trash here." 

"I don't care about that! I just wanted it to be you and me."

_ Just you and me. Oh. That's actually kinda nice. Shit. He's cute. He's so stinking cute.  _

"That's cute."

"It's not. It's--It's practical." 

Zuko shifts his weight from one foot to another. Then he has this crazed desperate look in his eyes, the same one he gets when he loses balance on the bus. He can't hold it in a single second longer. 

Zuko grabs Sokka's face in his hands and he kisses him. And that action alone puts all of Sokka's half baked fantasies to shame. Because in his fantasies it was always him that started it. Unsure if Zuko even wanted it. Wanted him. Sokka. 

This. This is so much hotter. Because real flesh and blood Zuko is better than any fantasy of him ever will be. His lips are slightly chapped. And he kisses like he talks, in short and deliberate little bursts of energy. Sliding his lips against Sokka's like he's been dying to do it all this time. He's  _ real.  _ He's so real. They take their time figuring each other out. What feels good. What doesn't. There's so much of it though. That feels good. Warmth. And hard muscle under Sokka's hands. And  _ Zuko.  _ Sokka feels the undercurrent again.  _ Sweet lord I wanna do you.  _ Maybe this time he will. 

Sokka can finally reach out and put his hand in that frankly offensively alluring hair. He can pull Zuko close to him. Finally. Practically slamming their bodies against each other. Sweet, sweet  _ friction.  _

Forgetting the fact that they're making out by the side of literal trash cans. This is a day for the books. 

"I have literally wanted this forever." Sokka says against Zuko's mouth. 

"Really?" Zuko seems surprised.

_ Why are you surprised? You're literally my best friend. And I've liked you forever.  _

Sokka's gonna make sure he never forgets it. 

"Yeah. I do. Like you so much."

He says it again. And again in between kisses. Against Zuko's mouth. His neck. Right under his eye. 

"I've liked you since orientation week."

"Since the time you crashed my car into the ravine."

"Liked you when you baked me that awful cake on my birthday." 

"Liked you when you stayed at my place that thanksgiving." 

_ Always. Always.  _

Zuko only says it back when they're forehead to forehead, his hands at the back of Sokka's neck, "...I like you too."

They stay tangled in each other for a while. Just kissing like they're horny teenagers again. Not really caring about anything for once. But the feel of each other. 

It's Sokka who gets the thought that they're gonna miss the last bus back. And he doesn't have the money for the cab. 

"We should probably head back." Sokka says. 

"We should."

"You're still wearing my sweatshirt."

"Oh. You want it back?"

"No. It's just. If you wear the sweatshirt you gotta be my boyfriend. Hey. I don't make the rules."

"Yeah. Okay." Zuko nods, very seriously. 

_ How are you even real?  _

"Come on. Let's get our clothes from the place on the way back." Sokka grabs his hand. 

And Zuko lets him. Finally. Fucking finally. 

"Hey sorry you didn't really get to see  _ Ember Island _ ." Zuko mentions, giving Sokka's hand a hesitant squeeze. 

Sokka remembers how obsessed he was with this. How little it mattered once Zuko was in the picture. How little  _ anything  _ else matters once Zuko's in the picture. It's almost funny. If he thinks about it. 

"Eh. I saw what I needed to see. Besides, I wasn't  _ that  _ interested anyway."

"Yeah. Sure you're not." 

"Okay I'll admit. I wanna see it again." Sokka whines. 

"There's another showing tomorrow. I'm, uh, still free." Zuko looks at his shoes before saying it, then at Sokka's face.

_ In that case.  _

"It's a date." Sokka laughs, "You and me, boyfriend." 

"...Yeah." Zuko smiles, one of his rare genuine smiles, the one that hits Sokka straight in the heart and warms him to the bone, "You and me."

**Author's Note:**

> Another zukka oneshot! Hope ya like it.  
> Come bother me about zukka at @itszukkatime on tumblr if you want


End file.
